I hope all you Minnesotans are as excited to have the fabled Odell available in Minnesota as I am. I’ve gotten ahold of the calendar of events for Odell’s inaugural week in Minnesota. I hope to see many of you out at these tastings and release parties!

Monday, May 3

Zipps Liquors: Be the first to try the fine Odell Brews in Minnesota!  Beer tasting with Brewery Founder Doug Odell!  3:30pm-4:30pm

Mackenzie: Minneapolis Kickoff for Odell Brewing Company. Meet Doug Odell and the brewery team for the first official tapping of a 90 Shilling for the city of Minneapolis. There will be 3 Odell beers on draft and some fun “Scottish Flair” to go with the festivities.  Starts at 5:00pm

Sweeney’s Saloon: St. Paul’s Kickoff for Odell Brewing Company. Meet Doug Odell and the brewery team for the first official tapping of a 90 Shilling for the city of St. Paul. There will be 3 Odell beers on draft and some fun “Scottish Flair” to go with the festivities. Starts at 6:30pm

Stub & Herb’s: Minneapolis Kickoff for Odell Brewing Company. Meet Doug Odell and the brewery team for the first official tapping of an Odell Firkin for the city of Minneapolis. Stub & Herb’s will also feature 6 other Odell beers on tap including 90 Shilling, 5 Barrel Pale Ale, IPA, St. Lupulin, Bourbon Barrel Stout, and the new Saboteur. Starts at 7:00pm

The Happy Gnome: St. Paul’s Kickoff for Odell Brewing Company. Meet Doug Odell and the brewery team for the first official tapping of an Odell Firkin for the city of St. Paul. The Happy Gnome will also feature 6 other Odell beers on tap including 90 Shilling, 5 Barrel Pale Ale, IPA, St. Lupulin, Bourbon Barrel Stout, and the new Saboteur. Starts at 7:30pm

Tuesday, May 4

Princeton Liquors: In-store tasting, right in Maple Grove there is a great little craft beer store. Odell Sampling, brewery Founder Doug Odell and You! 4:30pm-6:00pm

Four Firkins: In store tasting. Come down to St. Louis Park, meet Doug Odell and sample some Odell brews. 6:00pm-7:00pm

Zipps Beer Tasting Extravaganza at the Minneapolis Eagles Club: Meet some of the Odell crew as they sample of some of their great beers along side some other great craft brewers.  Tickets available at Zipps Liquors, Local Wine Events, or at the door. 6:30pm-9:00pm

The Muddy Pig: Beer dinner with Doug Odell from 7:30 pm – 9 pm The Muddy Pig will be featuring 7 Odell beers on draft including 90 Shilling, 5 Barrel Pale Ale, IPA, St. Lupulin, Bourbon Barrel Stout, and the new Saboteur. They will also have a Firkin of Odell to round out the 7 beers.

Wednesday, May 5

St. Anthony Village Wine and Spirits (Village Store): In store tasting.  It’s beer school night at SAV! Meet your friendly neighborhood Odell Rep and find your new favorite Odell beer! Starts at 4:00pm

Heritage Liquor: In Store Tasting.  All you western Wisconsinites, this is your chance to taste the Odell beers!  Make the short drive to this East Metro location and get your Odell on! Last chance for kickoff week to taste beer with brewery founder Doug Odell, come on out! 6:30pm – 8:00pm

Busters on 28^th: Join Doug Odell and his crew for 7 Odell beers on draft featuring 90 Shilling, 5 Barrel Pale Ale, IPA, St. Lupulin, Bourbon Barrel Stout, and the new Saboteur. Buster’s will also be “Busting” out a Firkin of Odell for this great South Minneapolis craft beer bar! 4:00pm – 6:00pm

“Cinc Odell Mayo” Pub Crawl: Tiffany’s, Shamrock’s, Groveland Tap, & Eagle Street: Join these four great St. Paul fun spots and help support a great local charity! All proceeds will benefit Second Harvest Heartland! Let’s have some fun and put a “Colorado twist” to this Mexican holiday! $20 gets you bus transportation, souvenir cup, and $2.50 Odell drafts in your cup from 7 – 11 p.m. at all locations. Meet the founder Doug Odell along the way and enjoy a pint with him and his crew. Salut!

Thursday, May 6

South Lyndale Liquor: In Store Tasting. Come taste Odell Brewing Co.’s finest with Brewer extraordinaire Joe Mohrfeld. 4:30pm – 5:30pm

Blue Max: In Store tasting.  An Odell Brewing rep will be your guide to tasting beers from Odell Brewing, the latest craft brewery to come to Minnesota. 4:00pm – 5:30pm

Longfellow Grill: Join Odell Brewer extraordinaire Joe Mohrfeld and other brewery reps for an evening of Odell beers and patio fun with an Odell Happy Hour from 4-8 p.m. The first 250 to show up will get Odell souvenir cups to put their beer in! $3.00 Odell drafts and great camaraderie to be had by all! 4:00pm – 8:00pm

Nomad World Pub: Watch for the Odell team to be stopping in the Nomad to share a few pints and maybe even be challenged to a Bocce Ball game or two! We will be stopping in to enjoy some of our great beers on draft and maybe a surprise brew to go along with them. Starts at 9:00p.m.

Acadia Cafe: What can you say about this West Bank craft beer mecca? FRENCH FRIES and great craft beer! Pretty hard to beat that combination and the Odell Crew will be stopping by to enjoy both! Fresh off Acadia Café being named Best French Fries in the City Pages “Best of the Twin Cities” issue we feel honored to be sharing space on draft to enhance the whole French fry experience! Come have a couple pints with us and rumor has it there is going to be a special Odell beer on draft that pairs great with those garlic and vinegar bathed beauties! Starts around 9:00pm

Friday, May 7

Surdyk’s: In Store Tasting. The NE Minneapolis landmark will host an Odell Brewing Co. tasting event.  Be sure to come down either Friday or Saturday and meet an Odell Rep, and try all the Odell Beers. 11:00am-7:30pm

Grumpy’s-Downtown: It’s FIRKIN lunch time I said at Grumpy’s on Wash! Join Odell brewer extraordinaire Joe Mohrfeld for a tapping of an Odell firkin and kick off your weekend with a firkin good lunch! We will be tapping that bad boy at high noon so we hope you can get in and have a little firkin fun on your lunch hour for a change! 12:00pm – High Noon!

Grumpy’s- NE: It’s FIRKIN FRIDAY in Northeast! Here’s your opportunity to enjoy a different version of an Odell firkin than what we had for lunch at Grumpy’s-Downtown and let your hair down after that wicked work week! Stop in for a pint and introduce yourself to the Odell crew and help us wind down from our Odell kickoff week. 4:00- 6:00pm

Mac’s Industrial: Meet up with the Odell crew and help us get the weekend going by enjoying 3 different Odell brews on draft. Come on in and vote for your favorite and help Jimmy and Mike decide what they will keep on tap. Our yard sign says vote for all three! Starts at 6-ish!

Pracna on Main: Did someone say a van down by the river? Watch for the Odell crew to be climbing out of ours to enjoy some Odell drafts at his St. Anthony Main institution! Word has it when the sun shines down here people have fun! We have fun no matter what, so show up rain or shine and enjoy a pint with us! Starts around 7-ish!

Saturday, May 8

Blue Plate Restaurant Company – Highland Grill, Longfellow Grill, Edina Grill, and 3 Squares: Can you say Kegs and Eggs? We can! Stop on by on your way to the baseball game at that new stadium and enjoy an Odell inspired breakfast to get your day started off right! The Blue Plate Restaurant Company’s award winning Chef Trevis has created a breakfast utilizing Odell Brewing’s award winning 90 Shilling in his creation.

The breakfast is a whole grain mustard frittata with Tillamook cheddar & Stracchino cheese.  Served with grilled home fries & 90 Shilling Ale braised bratwurst.  Of course, this breakfast would not be complete without a glass of Odell 90 Shilling all for the bargain price of $9.95. We will have some of our crew at each location to answer any questions that you might have about the Odell brewery or our great beers. See you bright and early! (Check the website for individual store location hours)

Surdyk’s: In Store Tasting. The NE Minneapolis landmark will host an Odell Brewing Co. tasting event.  Be sure to come down either Friday or Saturday and meet an Odell Rep, and try all the Odell Beers. 11:00am – 7:30pm

France 44: In Store Tasting.  Come down and meet Odell Brewer, Joe Mohrfeld, and taste Odell Beers. 2:00pm -5:00pm

Dennis Brothers: All you western Wisconsinites, this is your chance to taste the Odell beers!  Make the short drive to Cottage Grove and meet an Odell Rep and Taste the beers you can’t get over the eastern border! 4:00pm-6:00pm

Groveland Tap: It’s Firkin Saturday at the craft beer gem of the Blue Plate Restaurant Company! Join Odell brewer extraordinaire Joe Mohrfeld as we tap a unique Odell firkin and we pull the pump. Help us wind down on our final night of Odell kickoff week with a nice cask conditioned ale! Starts at 6:00pm!

John’s Grocery – Iowa’s premiminate Beer Retailer will celebrate the first load of “High Proof” beer to come into the state! On Thursday, March 25th at 11:59 p.m., we will unleash onto beer lovers a plethora of Michigan’s Most Wanted-Bells! We will have Third Coast Old Ale Barley Wine, Expedition Stout, Two Hearted Ale, and a very limited number of Hop Slam and Consecrator Dopple Bock. We also have a very limited number of Two Hearted 7.75 gallon 1/4 bbls for purchase as well. We have a very limited supply of these items, so there will be a strict limit of two six packs per customer per item on these beers. We will have special midnight only pricing on the rest of the Bell’s line up, including a blowout price on the Best Brown 5L mini kegs. At the same time, we will be welcoming to Iowa City one of Iowa’s newest breweries – Peacetree from Knoxville! We will have a limited number of their brand new Belgian IPA and Rye Porter, so stop down and sample some of the newest players in town!

We’re getting ready to release Brau Bros. Rainwater Stout.  Definitely one of our bigger beers.  Clocks in at just under 10% ABV.  Brewed late this summer, this ale spent months on Madeira Oak for added complexity.  Something a bit new for us, it will be bottled in 750mL bottles.  Look for a release early in December.

I’m excited to try this beer and see how it does. Some of my favorite dark beers come out of Minnesota, and the Brau Brothers have had a good track record with me lately (Ringneck Braun, Sheephead, and Old 56). Further, it looks like there is a planned get-together for a group brew of the South Dakota Homebrewers Challenge winner.

December 5th, a group-brew here at the brewery.  We’ll be brewing Elisha’s Old Ale.  For those not in the know, a terrific homebrewer submitted this beer for the South Dakota Homebrewers Challenge and it was a unanimous winner.  We’ll brew and age a single batch which will go on tap at all the participating bars and restaurants in South Dakota.  Just guessing it will be ready to be tapped later this winter.  Everyone is welcome to help brew, however please email me an rsvp so I have a rough idea of turnout.  We’ll supply lunch and maybe we’ll have a beer, who knows.

Of course you can always check up on the latest from Brau Brothers at braubeer.com or on Twitter with @BrauBeer.

For those of you who can’t make the trek to Brooklyn Center, maybe you can check out one of the Darkness Draft release parties:

• October 26th – Hell’s Kitchen – Minneapolis, MN – 7:00
• November 4th – Sheffields Bar – Chicago, IL – 7:00
• November 9th – Gunflint Tavern – Grand Marais, MN – 7:00
• November 17th – Monks – Sioux Falls, SD – 7:00

Common Roots Café in Minneapolis also reported they will be having a keg available the week following Darkness Day. Check them out on Twitter for more details.

[via Surly Brewing Company]

Important event details:

• Saturday – October 24th,  noon – 6:00 pm
• Rain or Shine or Cold or Snow. Dress accordingly.
• At the brewery, Ducharme Drive, Brooklyn Center, MN
• Food available for purchase. CASH ONLY
• Beers (for drinking) will be available for purchase. CASH ONLY

An additional 2500 bottles of Darkness will go on sale at local liquor stores starting the week of November 2nd.

Information regarding sales of Darkness:

• Gates open at noon
• 1st 800 people will get a wristband to purchase up to 6 bottles.
• $18 per bottle – CASH ONLY!
• Bottle sales from noon-6:00

Thanks to Brooklyn Center Liquors for selling the beer on Darkness Day. Per state liquor laws, they cannot sell beer to people that are intoxicated!

Where to park:

• Parking will be available around the brewery
• Volunteers will direct you to the open parking areas
• Overflow parking is available at Caribou Coffee located @ 100 & France.

Entertainment at the brewery:

• 1:00 – Kruddler
• 2:30 – God Came From Space
• 4:00 – Rockford Mules Exact times subject to change

I hope Mike and I will see you there! I know Brad from Hop Cast will be making a trek up North with a few of the Chicago #gents. Be sure to ping me on Twitter or FourSquare!